Post Punch Moments
by Janey57
Summary: This is a short, one-shot, fix-it fic focused on Sonny and Will's first moments together after Sonny punched Nick. I do not own DOOL or any of the characters, evidenced by the fact that if I did the scene would have looked a lot less like it did and more like this story. Words are taken verbatim from the 3/25/13 episode. Reviews appreciated.


Sonny's hand stung, felt deeply bruised. He smiled, knowing that the face on the other end of the blow he had dealt would be hurting just as badly if not worse. It brought him some measure of comfort. _Asshole._

His instinct, right after the punch, was to find Will, quickly. He knew that sharing his pain with Will so that they could process what had happened together was somewhat selfish – Will already had so much crap to work through as a result of Nick's cruelty – but he also knew the best way to dull and eventually heal his own pain would require sharing the experience with his other half.

Coffee. He'd bring Will coffee.

Hot cup in hand, heart still beating too fast from the adrenaline that had surged with the punch, he went to Horton Square, saw Will's broad back bent over schoolwork. He smiled, loving the fact that just the sight of Will could bring him such simple contentment. Coming around Will, he slid an arm around Will's shoulder, letting Will know he was there.

At first Will's face looked confused – Sonny loved that despite all the chaos, Will was able to still focus on academics – and then broke into a grin. Sonny was always, always a welcomed site.

"Hey, didn't you have to work this morning?" Will asked, gratefully accepting the coffee Sonny held out to him.

"I did, but, I thought it was more important to spend some time with you," Sonny replied, smiling. _God_ he loved this man.

"Aw, thanks," Will replied, taking a sip, the hot coffee warming him almost as much as Sonny's loving gaze.

Sonny's plan – to ease Will into a conversation about what had just transpired with Nick – was derailed with Will's immediate discovery of his bruised knuckles.

"What happened to your hand?" Will asked, eyes widening as he brought the red skin to his lips and kissed Sonny's flesh softly.

"Um, I don't know. Must have, like, banged it on something," Sonny replied, his acute need to protect Will overriding his better judgment. "It's not that big a deal." _I'll tell him another day, a long time from now, when this is all over and our daughter is safe with us and we can look back on this whole mess as a distant memory…._

"You banged it on something," Will echoed, unconvinced. He moved toward Sonny, face full of concern. Did Sonny not know that after years of friendship and months of intimacy, Will could tell when Sonny was obfuscating?

"What happened? Dude, tell me."

Sonny's felt his gut clench, immediately on guard. Will only called him "dude" when he was trying to be tough, trying to fight his own rising fear or uncertainty. "_Dude,_" they both knew, was Will's shorthand for "_I'm worried about you, and I love you_."

Sonny and Will faced each other, each knowing that the next words from Sonny's mouth would be hard on them both.

Sonny took a deep breath, then stated softly "I got into a fight with Nick."

Will was unprepared for the overwhelming protectiveness he suddenly felt, the need to wrap Sonny in his arms and hold on tight. He fought the urge, determined to learn more, to be strong, painful though it was.

"Are you telling me Nick took a swing at you?" he asked, voice breaking.

"Well, actually, I was the one who took the first punch," Sonny replied, a ghost of a smile on his lips, remembering the powerful sensation of his fist against Nick's smug jaw.

"Why?" Will asked, noting the smile and feeling instantly better, but still fiercely protective. "What did he do? What did he say?" Will knew Sonny – for Sonny to get violent, whatever had transpired had to be truly loathsome.

Sonny thought quickly, decided it was too much. "I don't want to talk about it, I don't…" Sonny tried to step away, to get some distance between him and Will. He felt a familiar urge: a desire to crush Will in his arms, to hold him tight and take away all the pain.

"Hey, I do. I do." Will reached out to Sonny, needing to feel Sonny, to touch him. "Look, Nick's problem is with me. I don't want you punching people, getting caught up in the middle," Will said, knowing even as the words left his mouth that they were untrue. He and Sonny were a team, a partnership, and he recognized that whatever problem Nick may have been having with Will, Sonny was a part of it. "What happened? What did he do?"

Sonny knew that he had to just get the words out. He willed himself to speak slowly and evenly, to hide from Will as much as possible the devastation he felt at what had transpired. He looked Will in the eye, measured his words carefully: "He called me a faggot."

Will gasped, his eyes widening. His arms reached out to Sonny, enveloped Sonny in as big and powerful a hug, lined his frame to Sonny's so that they were pressed together along their entire bodies. _Oh my gosh. Sonny. I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry._

The two held each other for long moments, listened to each other's breathing. Sonny pulled back first, needing to see Will's face, to assess just how much damage had just been inflicted. What he saw looking back at him were eyes full of trust, and love, and longing.

Sonny suddenly knew, with total certainty, that everything was going to be just fine. That he and Will were strong, both as individuals and especially as a team; that together they would raise their daughter to be kind and open-minded, and most of all that Nick could fry in his own private hell, his ignorance and hatred condemning him to a small, stunted world in which there was only one right way to love. _Fuck that_. Thank god the world around them was shifting, and that just about everyone they knew was on the right side of history.

Will and Sonny moved to the bench, huddled closely, Will's right hand against the back of Sonny's head, Sonny's left hand rubbing Will's thigh. They continued talking, processing. Shared a few sweet kisses, laughed together when Will's only suggestion was that Sonny should have just hit Nick **harder**.

Will rested his head on Sonny's shoulder, snuggled into the arm Sonny had wrapped around him tenderly. "I just love you so much," Will sighed, feeling safe and warm in Sonny's embrace.

"I love you too," Sonny replied, kissing Will's forehead, giving his shoulders a gentle squeeze. "I love you too."


End file.
